The best shortcut is the long way: work hard.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is a book given/lend to me by my comrade.

Not very sure if this book is mine or not so I didn’t crazily highlight the contents of the book like I usually do but I did jot down bits and pieces from the book.

But this time, I have forgotten to write down the page number. ><  

I believe this is the consequences of not doing this for a very long time.

Anyway, here goes nothing.

- - - - -

When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you.

Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome.

I don’t believe in the no-win situation.

The brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop other people.

It’s easy to look smart when you’re parroting smart people.

Sometimes the most impenetrable brick walls are made of flesh.

Let’s saddle up and ride.

Time must be explicitly managed, like money.

You can only change your plan, but only if you have one.

Ask yourself: are you spending your time on the right things?

Develop a good filing system.

Inspiring others is doing good as well.

Somehow, with the passage of time, and the deadliness that life imposes, surrendering become the right thing to do.

Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier.

Treat disease, not the symptoms.

Don’t obsess over what other people think.

Almost everybody has a good side. Just keep waiting. It’ll come out.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Whether you think you can or not, you’re right.

It’s not how hard you hit. It’s how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you want. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.

The best shortcut is the long way: work hard.

Go out and do for others what somebody did for you.

Tell the truth all the time.

Try it anyway, you never know.

I want you to become what you want to become.

If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.

- - - - -

Gosh! I just realize it’s a pretty huge chunk that I got out from the book. But I like how it tells different stories of his life to convey different messages.

Though this book is filled with nuggets, but there’s one particular takeaway that really stuck in my mind.

Certain behavior/ attitude is not morally unacceptable, but it is socially unacceptable.

Okay. That's not the exact word used in the book, but that's how I interpreted it. 

And somehow it really stuck in my mind as I believe I fall under the socially unacceptable group. 

I had a conversation with my friend recently and he told me a mutual friend of ours mentioned that it is more important to know how to act in front of our boss than excel in our work.

And he is doing pretty well (in a way).

I put more effort in my work than trying to please my boss. 

And sadly, behaving as such did not really work out for me. 

I was pretty sad about it, believing that there's something wrong with me and I should start acting in a way that pleases other people so that I too can not only survive but thrive.

But thank God for that friend of mine and my sis who talk me out of it.  

I like to be an actor, but I don't want to be an imposter. :)